NIPS Explained: A Fireside Chat About Prenatal Genetic Screening

Noninvasive prenatal screening (NIPS) is a type of genetic screening that assesses if a pregnancy is at increased risk for certain chromosomal abnormalities, such as Down syndrome or Edwards syndrome. Prenatal genetic screening is an innovative tool that can help women make informed decisions about their reproductive health and pregnancy management, and may improve maternal and fetal outcomes by allowing preparation to care for children who may have a genetic disorder.

NIPS (also referred to as cfDNA screening) can be performed as early as 10 weeks into a pregnancy and is considered noninvasive because the required blood draw poses minimal to no risk to mother or baby. Even though the process is simple, NIPS should only be done after a woman is provided education and information about the process, risks, and benefits of NIPS, and gives her informed consent to proceed.

The Society for Women’s Health Research has created a NIPS Resource Guide for Women and other educational materials to increase awareness about genetic screening and provide essential information for understanding NIPS so that women may have informed conversations with their providers before undergoing prenatal genetic screening.

SWHR hosted a fireside chat to share educational information about the impact of prenatal screening on maternal and infant health. The event discussed how to reduce barriers to care and improve health outcomes through patient education, patient provider communication, and informed consent.

Follow the conversation on Twitter at @SWHR and #SWHRtalksGeneticScreening.

This event is free and open to the public.